Earlier this month, Alberta Mediation Services published their November 2025 Bargaining Update.
The monthly update reports on collective agreement settlement information that Mediation Services received during the month of the update, which in this case was November 2025.
Last month, Mediation Services received settlement information regarding 36 bargaining relationships encompassing 36,859 workers. There were 22 private sector and 14 public sector settlements, covering 2,251 and 34,608 workers, respectively.
One of those settlements were for roughly 100 workers employed by Apel Extrusions.
Based out of Calgary, Apel Extrusions specializes in aluminum extruding and finishing.
These workers are members of Local 7226 of the United Steelworkers and include equipment operators (such as stretcher, booth, crane, saw, fabrication, and forklift), as well as packers, receivers, shippers, line operators, die correctors, maintenance workers, and various labourers and helpers.
The previous collective agreement for these workers expired at the end of this past June. The new collective agreement was ratified at the end of this past October.
Unfortunately, unlike the previous agreement, the new one is not effective to the day after the last one expired. Instead, it is effective to the day after ratification, 1 November 2025.
The new collective agreement brings with it wage increases in each year of its 3-year duration.
| 1 November 2025 | 3.00% |
| 1 November 2026 | 2.50% |
| 1 November 2027 | 2.50% |
This is a combined increase of 8%, which works out to 2.67% per year, on average.
Their previous collective agreement was for 4 years and had increases being implemented in July, not November, which means that the first increase should have been implemented in July 2025, not November 2025.
That agreement was 3 years of 2% each and 2.5% in the final year, for a combined increase of 8.5% and an annual average of 2.13%.
So, the new agreement gives them almost the same increases in less time for a better annual average.
That being said, inflation in Alberta during the last collective agreement was 17.60%, which left these workers with a cut to real wages of 9.10%. That wittles down their new 8% wage increase to a real wage cut of 1.1%.
Remember, that 8% wage increase is over 3 years, too, which means that there are another 3 years of inflation still to come, which will make that real wage cut even deeper. Inflation since their last raise in July 2024 has increased 1.64% already, for example.
Here are some other ways that the new collective agreement changed from the previous agreement.
Union stewards will get 30 minutes to speak with newly hired workers for employee orientation. Under the previous agreement, they received “a reasonable opportunity”.
Should a worker file a grievance, there must now be a record of a discussion during the first step of the grievance process. That was not a requirement in the previous agreement.
The following clause was added to the collective agreement:
In a permanent promotion, an employee who does not wish to move up in the line in normal seniority-based progression, may, at the employee’s option, decide to stay in the lower seniority position rather than move up in the Line of Progression. If the employee chooses to remain in the lower seniority position, the employee’s Departmental Seniority will be permanently adjusted to be one (1) day behind the individual that does move up. No other Departmental Seniority advantage or disadvantage is contemplated.
Workers who apply for and receive a posted job but cannot efficiently or safely perform that job and returns to their former position will not be able to reapply for that position again for at least a year.
Immediate family in the previous collective agreement was defined as spouse, children, parents, and siblings for bereavement leave. Now, it includes grandchildren and step relations.
The amount the employer will pay to replace a pair of boots that have normal and expected wear and tear has increased from $185 per pair to $225 per pair.
The following clause was added to the new collective agreement:
Audiometric testing is mandatory every two years for employees exposed to noise above 80 dBA. Initial baseline testing is required within six months of hire, followed by a retest after 12 months, and then every two years unless otherwise indicated. Testing shall be conducted by a qualified external contractor.
